Cowboys vs. Indians:

Struggle of the western Native Americans

Mining Grows

Discoveries of precious metals in the West causes the explosion of boomtowns

No established gov’t, vigilance committees enforce the “law”

Boomtowns cause territorial populations to grow, qualify for statehood

Mining tech improves as mines exhausted, hydraulic mining allows for exaction of minerals

Mining has devastating effects on environment

Ranching & Cattle Drives

Texas Longhorn: breed of cattle adapted to life in Amer. West with little water, eat prairie grass

Open range: vast gov’t owned land for grazing

Ranchers take their cattle on long drives to R.R.

Over time the open range is bought up by farmers and fenced with barbed wire

Settling the Southwest

Mexican land owners in Southwest owned large tracts of land called haciendas

Americans move west and quickly outnumber Hispanics who lived there since Spanish times Resulting culture clash, Hispanics

marginalized As railroads reach SW, pop. Grows

El Paso, Albuquerque, Los Angeles develop barrios

Native American Tribes

Many tribes of the Great Plains were nomads

Followed buffalo herds for food, shelter, tools Americans forced natives to relocate, or move

off lands that were promised to them through treaties Sometimes in exchange for money, or

annuities Many natives forced to live in poverty

Many tribes, esp. Dakota tribe, fight back

The Plains Indians

A Sioux tribe called the Lakota go to war

against U.S. troops under the leadership of chiefs Red Cloud, Sitting Bull, and Crazy Horse Trick troops into ambush under Capt. Will

Fetterman The army abandons Bozeman Trail post in

1868 Chief Black Kettle of the Sand Creek tribe,

after much war, rides to army post in CO U.S. troops massacre Sand Creeks riding under

American and White Truce Flag

Western War

1867: Congress forms Indian Peace

Commission Plan: create two reservations, if Indians refuse

the army will attack Chiefs forced to sign treaties, Americans

ignored the terms, settlers occupied “Indian Land”

Americans kill buffalo to get rid of Indians

Attempts At Peace

Battle of Little Big Horn: US Lt. Col. Custer lead

troops against Lakota & Cheyenne against orders, slaughtered Newspapers paint battle as a massacre on the part of

the Indians, the army is dispatched to deal with them Battle of Nez Perce: Indians refuse to leave

southern land for a smaller reservation in Idaho, army attacks, tribe relocated to Oklahoma

Wounded Knee: Chief Sitting Bull defies U.S. orders, continues Ghost Dance, and is attacked—200 Lakota dead

Big Battles

1881: A Century of Dishonor published

Changes American thinking about Indians New goal is to assimilate Indians 1887: Congress passes the Dawes Act—Fails

Divides reservations into individual farm lands 1924: Citizenship Act 1934: Indian Reorganization Act

Reversed Dawes Act, restored reservation lands, allow Indians to elect their own governments

The Dawes Act